Thursday, February 9, 2012

6:12 PM

The four GOP challenges to the recall petitions filed would derail the elections if all are upheld by the Government Accountability Board.

But most of those hinge on an argument that a large portion of the signatures were from those outside the lines of the new Senate districts that Republicans crafted this summer. The GAB said last year that the recall elections will be held under the liens in place since 2002, citing language in the legislation approving the new districts that said those maps didn't take effect until the November 2012 elections.

If those old districts ultimately hold up, the GOP wouldn't be able to disqualify enough signatures from the petitions filed against Sens. Pam Galloway of Wausau, Terry Moulton of Chippewa Falls and Van Wanggaard of Racine to stop a recall election.

If all other challenges were upheld, the recall Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau could still be stopped.

Lastly, when it comes to the matter of duplicate signatures and fakes:*The Moulton petition challenged 265 signatures as duplicates, though noted no fake names.*Galloway challenged 403 duplicates, though noted no fake names.*Fitzgerald challenged 205 duplicates, and one fake name that was only noted as having the last name of a well-known slang usage of "sucker."*Wanggaard challenged 137 duplicates and no fake names.

Despite the lack of fake names, many of the signatures were challenged on the claim that they contained signatures in the same handwriting.

NOTE: The original challenge numbers provided from Committee to Elect a Republican Senate were incorrect in the Moulton challenge. Based on the filing challenges listed, Moutlon would not be able to head off a recall. The article above has been changed to reflect that.